Financial Assistance
Financial Assistance for our Families

Greensboro Montessori School’s Financial Assistance Program is a need-based program, which makes financial assistance available to families who cannot otherwise afford our tuition. Financial assistance is reviewed and granted on an annual basis and is available to students enrolling in kindergarten through ninth grade. Additionally, Greensboro Montessori School bases awards on a family’s ability to afford tuition only. Before- and after-school care expenses (the cost of All-Inclusive CASA and Early-Bird CASA), as well as other expenses outside tuition, are not included.

Greensboro Montessori School also participates in the North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship. The Opportunity Scholarship Program provides tuition assistance of up to $6,492 per year for awarded students who enroll in a participating nonpublic school. The new student application opened February 1, 2023, and the Priority Window closes March 1, 2023. The application will remain open until August 31, 2023 for students to be considered for the full 2023-24 school year, as funds remain available. Click here to learn more about the Opportunity Scholarship

 

Accessing Financial Assistance

If you are a family who may need financial assistance from Greensboro Montessori School, please click the button below to complete our Notice of Application for Financial Assistance form and follow the below steps. For returning families, please download, sign and submit this form by February 28 and complete your online application through FAST by March 15.

  1. Download the form to your desktop.
  2. Open the form using Adobe Acrobat Reader. Do not open the form in your browser. Instead, open Acrobat Reader program, click on file/open and locate the form saved on your desktop.
  3. Fill out the form in Acrobat Reader. While you can complete a fillable PDF form while it is displayed in your internet browser, we strongly recommend that you not open fillable forms in your browser. You will have trouble printing and saving your completed forms from your browser.
  4. Save your completed PDF form to your desktop.
  5. Print, sign and return your completed form to the School. If you don’t have access to a printer, you may also email your completed PDF form as an attachment to [email protected]. We will print the file and have a copy waiting for you to sign in the front office.
How Financial Assistance Works

Without a doubt, education is the single best investment that you can make for your child. We understand that for many families, offering your child the opportunity to experience an authentic Montessori education involves planning, prioritizing and, sometimes, making tough financial choices. We work diligently to keep our tuition competitive with other independent schools in the area and have designed our Financial Assistance Program to assist families who are experiencing financial hardship and could not otherwise afford our tuition. Our approach to financial aid is also rooted in our strong desire and commitment to building the sense of community and the culture of partnership at Greensboro Montessori School.

If you are unsure whether your family would qualify for Financial Assistance, but you know that paying tuition is an uncomfortable stretch, please consider applying. There is no stigma associated with asking for help. Just note, we do expect families to prioritize educational costs after necessary living expenses, which is precisely why we use an independent and impartial third-party agency to determine a recommendation for an expected family contribution. At the same time, families are also encouraged to submit a Family Letter describing individual circumstances impacting your situation and resources. There is a place to do this in the online application. When there are dramatic changes in a family’s financial situation due to a significant setback, the School will do what it can to make it possible for the child to remain at Greensboro Montessori.

Returning families interested in being considered for financial assistance should complete a Notice of Application for Financial Assistance by February 28 and the online application no later than March 15 of the upcoming school year. New families should complete their application by April 1. The online application must be completed through a service called Financial Aid for School Tuition or “FAST.” This service is sponsored by Independent School Management (www.isminc.com), and there is a nominal application filing fee payable directly to FAST.

FAST will use the information families provide to make a recommendation to the School for how much a family can afford to contribute for education. Factors considered in the process include family income and expenses, assets and indebtedness, family size, age of parents, number of children attending tuition-charging schools and financial support received from extended family or other sources.

Greensboro Montessori School will consider the recommendation from FAST and make final determinations based on the resources available in the School’s general operating budget. Financial assistance must be applied for annually, and returning families do receive first consideration as the School determines how to allocate assistance.